After Zimbabwe President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa took a swipe at Pakistan in his congratulatory message for Craig Ervine and his men after their victory over the Men in Green in Perth, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now replied with a subtle jibe.
"We may not have the real Mr Bean, but we have real cricketing spirit .. and we Pakistanis have a funny habit of bouncing back:) Mr President: Congratulations. Your team played really well today," Sharif said in response to President Emmerson's tweet.
Earlier on Thursday, President Emmerson's tweet directed towards Pakistan took the internet by storm after the Zimbabweans caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the elite T20 cricket competition.
In his tweet he said, "What a win for Zimbabwe! Congratulations to the Chevrons. Next time, send the real Mr Bean...#PakvsZim", referring to Pakistani comedian Asif Muhammad, a Mr Bean lookalike.
The comedian visited the African country in 2016 and posed as the original Mr Bean, a character played by actor Rowan Atkinson in the widely acclaimed British sitcom. Ever since, this episode has remained a sour point between the two countries.
Highlighting the incident, a Zimbabwean Twitter user slammed Pakistan ahead of the match in Perth the previous day.
"As Zimbabweans, we won't forgive you...you once gave us that Fraud Pak Bean instead of Mr Bean Rowan ..we will settle the matter tomorrow just pray the rains will save you...#ZIMVSPAK," he posted.
Meanwhile, Pakistan team's captain Babar Azam and his colleagues were all set to claim their first win of the T20 World Cup after they restricted Zimbabwe to a paltry total of 130/8 in their 20 overs: Mohammad Wasim Jr was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers as he returned with figures of 4/24, playing a key role in the collapse of the Zimbabwean batting in the Super 12 fixture.
However, in pursuit of a 160 target, the Pakistani team made a mess of their chase as they lost their skipper Babar Azam, vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed inside the first eight overs of their innings. With their score reading 3/36, Pakistan looked in deep trouble at that stage and never recovered from the early blows, eventually losing the match by a solitary run in the final over of the game.
The shock defeat left several former Pakistan cricketers fuming at captain Azam and the country's cricket board chief Ramiz Raja.
"From day one, I said it's a poor selection. Who will take the responsibility? I think it's time to get rid of the so-called PCB chairman who thinks he is the god, as well as the so-called chief selector)," former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir wrote in his stinging remarks after the loss.
"Very very embarrassing. Really embarrassing. Keep selecting average people, average players, average team management and an average PCB and this will be the outcome. I am super disappointed and you are losing against Zimbabwe now?" the legendary Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar posted reacting strongly to the defeat.